There is a well-known and bickered-over mantra in the world of marketing, and that is the idea that “more is more.”
While some would argue that offering more choices to their customers will guarantee they’ll attract and retain them, others vehemently deny it, stating that too much choice sends customers running for the hills, clutching their purses protectively.
It’s therefore no surprise that there is an industry-wide debate in the world of SEO marketing concerning scalability and, with increasing advancements in technology, how SEO professionals can reach and hook their target audience effectively.
And for many, that means looking very seriously at AI advancements.
There’s a bit of push and pull on this topic, too. While developments in AI have made it possible to create more content that improves search rankings, there are problems with content scalability and the potential for value that make it less appealing.
Which is why generative AI is a bone of contention among SEOs, particularly when paired with the “ more is more” argument.
When it comes to AI-generated content and SEO, the debate centres around value as well as how to use that content to scale SEO. There is a lot of information out there that covers how to use (or not use) AI to scale SEO content, as well as advice on how to do this effectively and correctly, and for good reason: it’s so new and complex that it’s difficult to know what’s not only correct, but ethical and efficient.
Which all begs the question: how do we deal with the apparent paradox of SEO scalability and AI-generated content?
AI vs. humans (and Google)
There’s no question that AI-generated content has stormed the technological stage. Tools like ChatGPT, Copy.ai, and countless others are changing the way many professionals create their content.
It’s not really a surprise—if you’ve ever spent a few minutes on any AI generation app, you know that there’s nothing you can’t ask it to create for you. It saves time and valuable energy, which helps creators and businesses build their content in a fraction of the time.
Despite this, there is still a vital need for a real live human being to review any content that has been generated by AI. There are a number of reasons for this, of course, but the best one is that Google is keeping a close eye on AI-generated content:
The forefront of anything we do with regards to SEO content must, therefore, be centred around providing quality human content for our fellow humans.
Does that mean we never make use of AI in our marketing strategies and procedures? Of course not—in fact, ignoring the benefits of AI, despite the AI/SEO scalability paradox, would probably be foolish.
SEO Scalability
The truth is, AI is extremely useful for SEOs. From plugins and extensions that help with keyword research, on-page analysis, and search trends, to exciting advancements that can even help decipher and analyze vast amounts of data, AI has conquered the technological world in ways that have, until recently, been nearly impossible.
But we do know of a couple of tasks that AI has yet to be able to handle, such as scaling SEO. If you’re still new to marketing and SEO, you may not entirely understand what scaling is, and that’s okay: it’s a fancy term for something rather simple.
In marketing, scaling is the process of enhancing the reach (a measure of the size of your audience) and impact of digital campaigns, as well as keeping those campaigns efficient and effective.
Basically, it’s how to get more people to see your product or service, understand its value, and ultimately become repeat buyers and investors. It’s about recognizing patterns that will help you reach maximum optimization with your content.
While AI is great at scouring through data for you, it can’t scale SEO by merely delivering reports about the relevant data. And, while AI does everything remarkably quickly, scalability in SEO doesn’t depend on that factor.
Scaling SEO relies on you, as the expert, to develop an optimized user experience using best practices. In our current technologically advancing climate, that also means adapting well to the changes that come with it.
Including AI.
AI trade-offs
The goal is always to create content that will rank organically; content that will ultimately maintain your site’s long-term visibility. As Google has affirmed, AI-generated content is being closely monitored, so it’s important to know the limits and to use AI tools carefully — and effectively. Achieving that is a delicate equation.
So many things in life are trade-offs. Let’s say you eat cake every night of the week? The benefit is that you get to eat delicious cake every night of the week — the trade-off is your waistline and a potential risk of diabetes. But is it wrong to eat so much cake?
I prefer not to think in those black-and-white terms.
When it comes to AI, there are also trade-offs. For instance, Google already flags AI-generated content, but using it isn’t impossible. One possible trade-off for this is the potential for penalties for AI-generated content. Another trade-off is copyright infringements; yet another is the possibility of inaccuracies and even plagiarized content.
There’s still value in AI tools, however. I’ve written about this at length, and if used correctly (and with the proper checks and balances most tools provide), it’s a great time saver.
But never, ever trade off the important element of value when using AI tools. Creating unique, effective, and ultimately human content is what scaling SEO centres around, after all.
Authentic optimization
AI technology is getting a little scary.
From pillows that are somehow smart to weapons tech, advancements in the field of AI are starting to freak us all out. When do the machines take over a-la Terminator?
All I needed to do to be freaked out by AI technology was watch that terrifying horse-wrangling scene in Logan. I will never, in a million years, allow a car to do my own driving. Over my (probably) dead body.
But none of that means that AI is the enemy. Yet.
As SEO professionals, we can use AI to our advantage. We can integrate it into our processes in ways that don’t negate our professionalism or expertise. The purpose of AI is to perform tasks (particularly those that are mundane) better and quicker than we can, and it lives up to that role beautifully.
But it needs to be monitored carefully. By humans.
Scalability in SEO is so much more than fast, easy content, and as such, it is important to balance our use of AI-fueled growth with actual optimization. It’s all about your audience: is their experience still exceptional?
Is the quality of your content still of high value?
AI is a helpful tool, but as it stands right now, it’s just that: a tool. As advanced as it is, it can’t replace the human brain or human emotions. It can’t replicate that kind of authenticity that real people bring to SEO, so don’t fret: you haven’t been replaced just yet.
When it comes to coping with this complex paradox, finding an effective balance between SEO scalability and using AI-generated content isn’t as hard as it might initially seem. One does not replace the other, and that’s comforting. For now, we can use AI to help scale SEO and optimize our processes, but we can’t use it to replace SEO entirely—it’s just not there yet.
In the meantime, there are a ton of useful AI tools that can help you do your job better, and that’s a great thing. In the competitive online world of optimized content, we need all the help we can get.
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This post was previously published on Lauren Hall’s blog.
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